Recasting Citizenship for Development - File UPI

88 P. THAMIZOLI AND P. IGNATIUS PRABHAKAR
allotted about four acres of porombokku land for the Irulas to establish
their first permanent hamlet. MGR Nagar has 136 households and a
population of 494. The settlement lies close to the mangrove forests. The
residents own no assets and manage their livelihood through fishing in
the mangrove waters. In the beginning there were only around 20 families
settled here, but later the number of families gradually increased and
reached the present strength.
The MSSRF, an NGO involved in participatory action research and
development, has facilitated a project in the area for evolving Joint Mangrove
Management with the active involvement of the major stakeholders,
including the local mangrove-dependent communities and the Tamil
Nadu Forest Department. The objectives of the project are to check the
further degradation of the mangrove ecosystems and restore the degraded
mangrove areas with the participation of all the stakeholders. It also aims
to modify the relationship between the user groups and the wetland
ecosystems and to reduce the anthropogenic pressure exerted by the
communities living close to the mangrove wetland by involving the community
to explore and ensure sustainable utilisation of the mangrove
resources.
Chambers (1997: 183) has warned against the bias of professionals
while implementing a project involving community as the major stakeholder.
He has pointed to the attitude of professionals who assert their
own ‘reality’, ignoring and failing to appreciate the perceptions and views
of the local people; and has argued for the need for major reversals to
share people’s realities. Cultures have different goals and needs to meet.
These needs are sometimes complementary to that of other cultures or
groups and sometimes not. No cooperation can be expected from local
communities unless the problems and threats related to the basic requirements
in their lives are addressed. It is necessary to assist communities to
develop alternatives to compensate for the restrictions imposed upon
them by the authorities, particularly in the use and management of natural
resources. Hence, it is essential to strike a balance between the objectives
of the project and those of the people. Past experiences have clearly showed
that there will never be a ‘blueprint recipe’ for natural resource management
problems, as in every specific situation, the priorities and strategies
would be different. The significance of such an approach has been noted
and appreciated by researchers and activists.